Coal conveying system



Jan 23 11951 E. c. WEBB com. CONVEYING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 6, 1945 Patented Jan. 23, 1951 OFFICE COAL CONVEYING SYSTEM Ernest C. Webb, Bay Village, Ohio, assignor to Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company, Fortland, Oreg.

Application August 6, 1945, Serial N0. 609,159

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to conveying systems, and particularly to a coal conveying system.

The main object of this invention is to provide a convenient, flexible and eiiicient means for moving solid fuel such as coal, from on point to another without forming an objectionable amount of dust and with the expenditure of the minimum amount of effort and power.

I accomplish these objects in the manner set forth in the following specification as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which is somewhat schematically shown a mechanical coal feeder Ill by means of which coal II is fed from a truck, freight car or bin (not shown) into an air duct l2, to which air is delivered by a fan [3 and carried to the separator I l, from which the solids H fall to the point of delivery. A return air pipe l5 extends from the separator M to the intake side of the fan i3, forming thereby a closed system. It is obvious that with such a system, some air would pass through the coal I l and the feeder Ill and form an objectionable amount of dust in the surrounding atmosphere.

In order to prevent thi condition, there is provided a bleeder pipe l6, which connects with the duct 12 between the feeder l8 and the fan [3. The bleeder pipe [6 discharges into a small cyclone H, which removes the dust from it or bleeds from the system. This dust is accumulated in the container [8. It is desirable to provide the duct l2 with a butterfly valve !9 and the bleeder pipe l6 with a valve 21!, by means of which valves is and 20 the relationship of air flow within the duct [2 and pipe it may be varied at will.

While the foregoing illustrates a representative form of the system, it must be understood that the details can be varied greatly to meet the conditions present, but in any event, the operation of the device tends to reduce the amount of dust given off with the coal at the point of delivery.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of an adaptation of the idea involved. With the present system, invention resides in the withdrawal of a portion of the conveying medium in order to reduce the amount of dust given off by the fuel at the point of discharge.

In a system of this kind the feeder I 0 would be air tight and so designed as to create a slight suction or at least maintain a substantially atmospheric pressure at the discharge to prevent air from blowing back through the coal II. It

is therefore assumed that the only place for air to enter or leave the system would be through the bleeder pipe H6 or through the discharge opening of the separator M. Therefore, any air that is bled out of the system by the pipe H5 must be replaced by air entering the system at the separator Hi. It is this feature Which makes the apparatus function successfully.

To restate the matter, if ther is a small amount of air sweeping over the coal pile and entering the cyclone I l through its discharge opening, there is no possibility of dust blowing out through the opening of the cyclone I t. The amount of air entering the cyclone i4 is of course exactly equal to the amount of air bein discharged through the bleeder pipe I6. It is therefore obvious that in order to accomplish its purpose, the bleeder pipe It may be located at any point on the pressure side of the system where the air pressure is sufiicientlyabove atmospheric to cause the desired flow through the bleeder pipe IE and cyclone I1.

While I have thus illustrated and described my invention, it is not my desire to be limited to the precise form shown herein, and I intend to cover such forms and modifications of the invention as fall fairly Within the appended claim.

I claim:

In a pneumatic coal conveying system having a fan with an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening, a coal feeder with a coal discharge opening, a separator with a combined coal and air inlet opening, an air outlet opening, and a separate coal outlet opening, a first conduit connecting said fan outlet opening with said combined separator opening, a second conduit connecting said separator air outlet opening with said inlet opening of said fan, and a connection between said feeder discharge and said first conduit intermediate said fan and said separator, the provision for dustless discharge of said coal from said separator coal outlet opening which comprises means opening said first conduit to the atmosphere between said fan outlet and said feeder connection to said conduit, means for adjusting the resistance to air fioW of said last mentioned means, and means in said first conduit between said atmospheric connection and said feeder connection for adjusting the resistance to air flow of said first conduit whereby by the manipulation of either or both of said air flow resistance adjusting means a controlled amount of air can be induced into said system through said coal outlet opening of said separator and an equivalent amount of air can be ejected from said system to the atmosphere through said at- UNITED STATES PATENTS mospheric connection to said first conduit. Number Name Date ERNEST WEBB- 310,905 Milbank Jan. 20, 1885 462,424 Day Sept. 13, 1892 RJFERENCES CITED 6 1,468,966 Herington. Sept. 25, 1923 The following references are of record in the 2,027,697 Nielsen Jan. 14, 1936 file of this patent: 2,234,788 Williams Mar. 11, 1941 

